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We want London to be the low carbon capital that leads the way and makes the most of the global low carbon economy.

From press releases
- 1 April 2011 09:00 AM

“London is an untapped green gold mine. We consume roughly £12 billion of energy each year and produce 22 million tonnes of waste. In sheer scale, these are both tremendous opportunities for new, low-carbon technologies. If you consider this scale along with London’s world-leading research institutions and financial and business services sector, the capital is tremendously well-positioned to take a lead in catalysing the green economy.”

High returns for low carbonAn estimated £368bn needs to be spent around the world every year on renewable energy, energy efficiency and low carbon finance in order to meet CO2 concentration limit targets globally by 2030, according to New Energy Finance.

In London we are uniquely positioned to make the most of this opportunity and win a major share of the low carbon market. Our share of this prize is estimated at £3.7bn of investment growth annually up to 2025, according to the report we commissioned to investigate the opportunity: Prospectus for London, the Low Carbon Capital.

London’s strengths lie in its:

Scale – London’s big enough to be able to deliver major low carbon programmes.

Financing – London’s the leading global financial centre.

Research and development – there is a cluster of world class research institutions in and around the capital.

Business services – London is the global centre for legal and other business services.

Trading – London is the leading global centre for carbon trading.

We have targeted a 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in London by 2025.

To this end, we have a number of carbon reducing initiatives, including:

retrofitting residential, commercial and public buildings

rolling out energy from waste and recycling

increasing the use of electric vehicles

building a decentralised energy network.

The report estimates that these initiatives alone could generate for London 14,000 new jobs and £600m of Gross Value Added (GVA) per year.

From Toronto to Tokyo - other major cities are preparing to compete in the low carbon economy. We should make the most of the opportunity now, or risk being left behind.